Students in Professor Mike Beaudet’s Documentary Production class covered the October 6 State House hearing on bills to fix the state’s ineffective texting and driving ban. In February, Northeastern University journalism students dug into the numbers behind the ineffective texting and driving ban in Massachusetts. Few violations have been written because law enforcement officials tell us the 2010 law is difficult to enforce. The reason is simple: drivers are allowed to hold their cell phones in their hands. In the wake of our report, Governor Charlie Baker (a self-described “hands-free” driver… back when he didn’t have his own state police driver) told @NUjournalism he supported changing the law to require drivers to use “hands-free” devices. On Beacon Hill Tuesday, lawmakers on the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation heard testimony on several bills that would do just that. No one testified against the bills. Journalism students Elijah Kaplan, Matt MacCormack and recent master’s graduateAudrey Adam covered the hearing.

Watch the video: “Texting Law Change?”

Read the original story: “Investigative Reporting students examine enforcement issues with texting while driving law.”